Published on August 18, 2025, 11:38 AM EDT: Key Points and Summary – President Donald Trump has claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping personally promised him that Beijing will not invade Taiwan while he is in office.
-Trump revealed the alleged assurance during a Fox News interview en route to his Alaska summit with Vladimir Putin.
-While the White House has not elaborated, a Taiwanese lawmaker responded cautiously, stating that Taiwan’s security “cannot rely on the enemy’s promise.”
-The claim comes amid ongoing tensions and Taiwan’s own significant military modernization efforts, including the acquisition of new F-16 Block 70 fighter jets.
Taiwan in the Clear Until Trump Leaves Office?
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will not attempt to take the island of Taiwan, the Republic of China (ROC), as long as Donald Trump is in the White House.
Trump made this statement on Friday, August 15, saying that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping told him Beijing will not invade Taiwan while he is in office.
Trump made the statement during an interview with Fox News, which was taken just prior to talks he was scheduled to hold with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Those discussions were related to options to end the conflict that many call the European warm-up for a Taiwan takeover by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Putin’s military.
“I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump stated during the interview that occurred on board Air Force One with the Fox News one-hour nightly program’s “Special Report” host Brett Baier.
“He told me, ‘I will never do it as long as you’re president.’ President Xi told me that, and I said, ‘Well, I appreciate that,’ but he also said, ‘But I am very patient, and China is very patient.’” Trump recalled for the US cable news outlet.
Importance of the Taiwan Issue to China
Trump and Xi had their first officially announced telephone call of Trump’s second term as president in June. Trump had also revealed back in April that Xi had called him, but he did not state the date this call had occurred.
The PRC has a long-standing position that the ROC is a “renegade province” and claims the island of Taiwan as its own sovereign territory. Prior to the beginning of his administration, Beijing called the democratically elected President of the ROC, “William” Lai Ching-te, a “separatist” and a “troublemaker.” Beijing also does not officially refer to him with the title of president and instead calls him a “provincial leader.”
For his part, Xi has repeatedly stated his commitment to “reunify” with the ROC and does not recognize its democratic government and claims of sovereignty as legitimate. Following Trump’s statement on Friday, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Embassy in Washington characterized the topic of Taiwan as “the most important and sensitive issue” in US-PRC relations.
“The US government should adhere to the one-China principle and the three US-China joint communiqués, handle Taiwan-related issues prudently, and earnestly safeguard China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” was the more or less formulaic response from the PRC embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu in Washington.
The Military Option
The US is and has been the biggest ally of the ROC, especially after the 1979 passing and signing of the US-Taiwan Relations Act. The Reagan Administration, which entered office in 1981, further reaffirmed the tenets of US support for the island democracy with the Six Assurances.
The US has also been the ROC’s main arms supplier and supporter within the international community. However, the US and most countries have no official diplomatic ties with the island. Instead, the US maintains a de facto embassy on the island called the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).
The ROC government has not responded to Trump’s revelation of Xi’s “promise.” Still, on Saturday, the next day, one of the senior lawmakers from the Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party said Taiwan was grateful for the support from “our major ally.”
“However—[our] security cannot rely on the enemy’s promise, nor can it rely solely on the help from friends. Strengthening our own defense capability is fundamental!” Wang Ting-yu wrote on his Facebook page. Wang sits on the Taiwan parliament’s defense and foreign affairs committee, which has overseen a major effort to modernize the armed forces.
Among the new weapons arriving in the ROC are 66 of the latest model F-16C/D Block 70 fighter aircraft, which began to be delivered in March this year. This aircraft is equipped with the latest APG-83 Active Electronic Scannning Array (AESA) radar and a new electronic warfare suite. The ROC Air Force (ROCAF) will also modernize its existing fleet of 144 Block 20 aircraft to the same configuration as the Block 70.
In 2021, Adm. Phil Davidson, then the retiring head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, stated in congressional testimony what many have repeated since. Beijing is expected to attempt to take the island by force by 2027.
“The threat is manifest during this decade,” Davidson said at the end of one of his answers to a Congressional committee, “in fact, in the next six years.” Xi has since told other American officials that there are no such plans to this effect and that the 2027 deadline does not actually exist.
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson has thirty-six years of experience analyzing and reporting on foreign weapons systems, defense technologies, and international arms export policy. Johnson is the Director of Research at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation. He is also a survivor of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He worked for years in the American defense industry as a foreign technology analyst and later as a consultant for the US Department of Defense, the Departments of the Navy and Air Force, and the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia. In 2022-2023, he won two awards in a row for his defense reporting. He holds a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University and a master’s degree from Miami University in Ohio, specializing in Soviet and Russian studies. He lives in Warsaw.
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